Colours of the Rainbow
by ShadesofChaos40
Summary: A series of 100 one-shots based on the 100 pic challenge found on Deviantart.
1. Introduction

Hi everyone. This is my first Sonic the Hedgehog fic and it's based on the 100 picture challenge on deviant art. This story will consist of 100 one-shots, each with a title based on each subject from the challenge. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my efforts.

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Disclaimer: All characters are copyrighted Sega and Sonic Team. I own only the ideas used in the fic.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

It started with fire.

It started with a plume of acrid smoke seeping through the cracks in his window pane and rousing him from his sleep in a racking cough that bent him double.

It started with him throwing the covers off of his bed and racing to the door. With him throwing it open and gazing out onto a vision of hell.

Over half of the huts in the village were already burning when he threw the door open. His eyes widened in mute terror as his brain ran along theoretical pathways before reaching a conclusion. He knew what had caused this.

Robotnik.

The man's name had become taboo in the village as of late. Many travellers had passed through on their way to larger cities in the west, some even journeying from as far afield as Station Square. Many spoke in hushed tones of being forced from their homes by a mad dictator who called himself Robotnik. With an implacable wall of metal he advanced across the continent and crushed all populations before him.

The villagers had laughed at these travellers. 'We are but simple folk' they had said. 'We have nothing that this man may want. We are safe from him.' But, as he stood with firelight reflecting in his eyes, he knew that Robotnik had not come to take anything from them. He had come _for _them.

Acting almost on autopilot, he ran towards the nearest pile of rubble. Blisters formed almost instantly on his fingers as he sifted through red-hot rocks and timbers that were still aflame in a desperate search for survivors. Above him giant insects circled like carrion birds above a kill, spewing flaming orbs into any building that was not already aflame.

He ran from pile of rubble to pile of rubble, keeping in a ducked crouch to try and avoid the gaze of the insects above. All of his searches proved fruitless but he persisted. As he rounded one corner, he stopped in his tracks.

A small female rabbit was crouched in front of the ruins of what had once been her home. Her arms were wrapped around two children. All three of them were crying. In front of the trio a larger male rabbit stood with his arms outstretched trying to shield them from view. Facing him, three of the insects hovered in a triangle, but they were not real insects, he could see that now. They were of metal. Sheets of blue steel covered their bodies and a large barrel protruded from their abdomens in place of a stinger. In the centre of the triangle was a large spherical craft, seemingly hovering with no means of support and, in the cockpit was a bloated figure in a red jacket. Robotnik.

Even from behind, the ends of a bristled ginger moustache could be seen on either side of the head. Robotnik was talking to the rabbit but the distance was too great for him to make out the words. Then Robotnik tilted his head back and laughed. The sound was disturbing, like a bark mixed with the noise of water spiralling down a plughole. Then Robotnik raised a hand towards the stars, and let it fall. As it fell, the insects fired.

The three shots hit the rabbit in the chest, raising him off the ground slightly before allowing him to collapse. The murder completed, the three insects swooped towards the mother and children. He could only watch helplessly as they snatched the rabbits in their claws before bearing them away to rejoin the rest of the swarm circling the village. Robotnik turned his craft, and the two looked into each others eyes for the first time. Robotnik's eyes were impassive, hidden behind sunglasses. The other figure's eyes burned with fury.

With a slight shrug, Robotnik snapped his fingers. A solitary insect descended and, with no further commands issued, fired. Robotnik turned away, not even bothering to watch him be killed. He leapt backwards on instinct allowing the shot to hit the mud by his feet and kick up a spray of dirt as it did so. The insect moved closer and continued to fire, mindlessly following out the order to kill that it had just been given. Faced with the robot's impassive determination, he fled.

He ran in a straight line, too terrified to consider swerving. He vaulted over piles of rubble and ducked under flaming joists where they had fallen awkwardly. He stumbled occasionally, but kept running, trying to flee the robot whose wing beats were now a constant buzz in his head. He jumped over a boulder and crouched, hoping against hope that his pursuer would merely fly on and pass him by.

It did. But as it did so, he leapt up at it. Fingers bent the flimsy plastic that constituted the robot's wing and his superior weight brought the two crashing to the ground. He cried out as he landed. The robot made no sound save for the whirring of the gun barrel as it swivelled to target him. He stamped on the barrel. Hard. It buckled under the pressure and the resulting pressure build up from the charged shot caused the robot's abdomen to explode. Feeling no pain, the robot continued to try and claw at him. In his new found fury, he snapped the claws off, worked his fingers under the insect's breastplate and pulled.

The mouse that had been wired into the robot fell out as the breastplate was pulled away. Shakily, it managed to pull itself to it's feet, spared a quick glance to it's saviour and fled. He didn't call after it or try to stop the running figure. He only stared at the broken shell of the insect as he finally realised the truth of Robotnik's attack upon them. He realised that the eventual fate of his friends and relatives was to become little more than living fuel for more of these monstrosities. His fists clenched, buckling the metal of the breastplate he was still holding.

Without a word, he turned in order to work out the direction that Robotnik had left in. Then, he crouched digging his toes into the mud in a runner's start. Then, without looking back, without saying goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog ran. Ran into the night, into the maw of Robotnik's mechanical empire and away from the village of Green Hill as the flames licked steadily higher into the night's sky.

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Yeah, so. I hope you enjoyed this first one-shot. I remember the days when Robotnik was actually evil. So anyway, if you have anything to say, please feel free to leave me a review, Concrit is always welcomed. Thanks for reading.


	2. Love

Hey guys. Thanks for all the positive feedback I received after only one chapter. And so, without further ado, I present to you one-shot number 2. Enjoy

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Disclaimer: All official Sonic characters are copyrighted by Sega and Sonic Team.

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Chapter 2: Love

For Sonic the Hedgehog, love is fleeting.

Sonic can run as far afield as he desires. He can be in any place on the planet in the blink of an eye and this is not an attitude that lends itself well to true love. Sonic has loved many women over the years since he became a hero. Some he has loved sincerely but all have been loved briefly. For you see, a man that loves speed and the feeling of the wind in his hair cannot bring himself to fall in love and commit himself to one woman. If Sonic were to love, it should be with a woman who could understand his love of speed and one who, if she couldn't follow him, would at least wait for him to return. A woman like Amy. But, Sonic has spent so long convincing himself that he sees Amy as little more than an annoyance that he will not dare to love her. He will not dare to admit that he has been wrong. For Sonic the Hedgehog will rarely admit that he's been wrong. Well, sometimes he does, but only briefly.

For Tails, love is confusion.

He's not certain whether or not he loves Cream. He constantly maintains that he is too young to fall in love with anyone but Sonic keeps telling him that he's sixteen now, and should have fallen in love a long time ago. But Tails, isn't sure himself. He doesn't understand the mechanics of love. He can understand machines, a business where a certain action will always bring about the same reaction. Plugging a Chaos Emerald into the fuel linkage of the Tornado will always cause an explosion for instance. But it's not the same with love. One some occasions, when Cream comes to visit him in his workshop she will listen intently as he describes the Tornado's latest upgrade and smile shyly as she wipes the oil off of his nose. But other times, she won't listen. Instead she'll get angry and storm off in anger, or worse, crying. And Tails doesn't quite understand why.

For Knuckles, love is irritating.

Whenever Knuckles sits on the steps of the Master Emerald shrine and gazes up at the stars, he knows that he doesn't love Rouge. That he can't love Rouge. That to try and convince himself that he does love her and that they might have a future together will only bring him nothing but pain and heartache. He knows that Rouge is nothing but a selfish jewel thief with no other desire than to steal the Master Emerald and use it to further her own ends. He knows that Rouge doesn't love him. He knows that he doesn't love her. And that's why the little voice in the back of his mind that tells him that he's wrong is so damn irritating.

For Shadow, love is pain.

How could it ever be anything else, when the only two people to have ever loved him were gunned down because of him? He knows that Sonic, Rouge and the others love him as part of their family, but Shadow wants no part of it. He's caused them too much pain already, when he fell from the ARK. They'll never admit to him how much he hurt them by dying. But he can see it. He can see it whenever he tries to bring it up. Whenever Tails turns away, trying to hide the tears that threaten to fall at the memory. Whenever Sonic slaps him on the back and quickly changes the subject, he can see how much they hurt. That's why Shadow will never allow anyone to love him. He may love others in time, but no one else can ever love him. Not when all he causes is pain.

For Rouge, love is a challenge.

It's the challenge of getting that rock-headed echidna to realise that she doesn't care about the emerald anymore, and hasn't ever since he saved her life on the ARK. The challenge of getting him to realise that she's interested, not in his glowing rock, but in his noble demeanour, his willingness to help his friends, and a chivalrous attitude that should have long since died out. She loves him, but getting him to realise that is a real challenge. Rouge likes a challenge though. It makes the reward that much more worthwhile.

For Espio, love is a reason.

More specifically, love is _the_ reason, the reason why Vector feels the need to blow most of the team's pay check on flowers and other gifts for that rabbit woman he's been courting. Love is the reason that the team has been eating out of cold Chinese takeaway boxes for the last week. Love is the reason that Espio had to brush his teeth without toothpaste this morning, love is the reason that the team can't afford a bed and Espio has to sleep on the couch every night. Love is the reason that Espio lies awake every night and plans ways to leave the Chaotix and get out of this life. To start afresh in some new town and finally make some decent money. And, once all is said and done, love is the reason that Espio wakes up in the morning and eats breakfast with the others just as they've always done.

For Doctor Eggman, love is a factor.

Love must be taken into account whenever he's planning his next conquest attempt. Eggman knows that hurting Amy will only provoke Sonic's wrath because of the feelings that Sonic won't admit he has. Threatening Rouge will neutralise Knuckles. These are all things that Eggman keeps in mind whenever he designs a new plan or robot. But love also throws a wrench into even the best laid plans. Super-strong alloys that Eggman has designed to resist even Super Sonic crumble like paper when Amy's safety is on the line. Eggman's not quite sure why this happens, for love isn't just a formula that he can write on a piece of paper. But, whenever he sees a blue blur spin dashing into his cockpit windscreen, Eggman fervently wishes it were.

For Amy Rose, love is Sonic

It always has been. He heart has belonged to the blue hedgehog ever since he first appeared in her life and saved her from the clutches of Metal Sonic. Although he has spurned her and fled from her on many occasions, she will never stop pursuing him. If she were to ever stop, she would be admitting to herself that she cannot ever be Sonic's love, and that would break her heart. And, for that reason, Amy will forever love Sonic, for as long as she can.


	3. Light

Again thank you all very much for the positive feedback, nice to see that you're all enjoying my work. And so without further ado, I present unto you, Chapter 3.

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Disclaimer: All official Sonic characters are owned by Sega and Sonic Team

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Chapter 3: Light

Sonic knelt down and grabbed a handful of the dirt that lay at his feet. He opened his hand slowly, letting the fine grains fall through his fingers until he was left holding one single stone that was slightly smaller than his palm. It was a dusky grey but, if he squinted at it and turned it slightly then he could've sworn that he could see a faint hint of royal blue colouring the stone as well. The hedgehog turned slightly in order to look over his shoulder at Tails. The young fox was holding a similarly sized stone, this one had a faint yellw tinge to it.

"Are these," he asked, turning fully and walking over to the fox who gingerly handed Sonic the stone. "The Chaos Emeralds?" he held up his hands and indicated the stones. Tails nodded hesitantly.

"I think so." he said as Sonic turned back to his original position.

"But why are they all…dead?" Sonic asked. Tails pointed out, towards the city.

"I guess Chaos must've absorbed them or something." Tails said, his dual appendages hung loosly behind him as he stared out over the expanse of water that had once been Station Square. The giant form of Perfect Chaos was just visible through the spray. The creature was currently eating a building and the crushed segments of concrete could be seen suspended in the monster's translucent body. Sonic looked at the monster too. The two mobians were standing alone on a section of what had once been a motorway. Sonic glared out at the monster before hanging his head.

"Then it's hopeless." he sighed, "If I can't use the Chaos Emeralds, none of us are strong enough to defeat Chaos. We've lost."

"Don't say that Sonic!" A third voice piped up over the roar of water, Sonic's legs tensed into a running stance automatically, but he forced himself to remain where he was and turn to look at Amy. The girl was running towards him waving her arms. The turquoise bird that Sonic had seen her with earlier was still orbiting her head, but now two others had joined it. The pink hedgehog ran over to him and thrust two more dead Chaos Emeralds into his arms. The faint tint of their colouration identified them as the white and light blue Emeralds. "It's only over if you give up. You've never lost yet! There has to be some way to beat Chaos."

"She's right Sonic." Knuckles' voice entered the conversation and Sonic saw the top of the echidna's head breach the top of the safety barrier surrounding the motorway segment. Knuckles hauled himself up and threw the dulled red Chaos Emerald towards Sonic who clumsily tried to catch it. "You know how the Chaos Emeralds amplify your emotions and turn you Super?" he asked. Sonic nodded and motioned for the echidna to continue. "Well, Chaos' emotions are all out of whack. The guy's been angry and sad for so long, he's locked the other emotions away and the Emeralds can't give him all of their power. But you should be able to tap into the rest of their power. Your positive emotions should overpower his negative ones."

"My light versus his dark you mean." Sonic smirked as he looked back down at the emeralds cradled like newborns in his arms. "But we still need all seven emeralds."

"Hey, your rocks look like mine." A voice broke out right behind Sonic's head causing him to spin and nearly drop the emeralds. Big the cat was standing behind him holding out the green emerald. The cat could move surprisingly silently given his size. The giant feline smiled at the hedgehog and placed the emerald on top of the pile.

"Looks like you need this huh?" He asked. Sonic nodded, not quite sure what to make of the cat's generosity. Then, Sonic saw a figure walking towards him from behind the cat. Sonic dropped instantly into a fighting stance and Knuckles brought his fists up as Dr Eggman approached them. As he neared them though, the doctor held up his hands in a placating gesture. One of his hands held the last chaos emerald, this one glowing with a purple tinge. The doctor walked as near as he dared before stopping, placing the gem on the ground and backing away. Tails ran out from the group and picked it up.

"What's the deal Doc?" Sonic yelled as Tails put the final emerald into his arms.

"You're our only hope Sonic." Eggman said simply. "You saw how even the might of my Egg Carrier paled when compared to Chaos, only Super Sonic has a chance against him now." Eggman turned away and folded his arms. Sonic turned and looked at Knuckles, who nodded towards the Emeralds. Sonic nodded back and focussed down at the jewels in his arms.

A lot of the Emerald's powers were gone. Sonic could tell that as diving into them was a lot easier as there were less strands of Chaos energy getting in the way. But finding a tangible strand to hook onto was harder. The emeralds were primarily used for destruction after all. The emotions of anger and sadness fuelled the transformation more readily than other emotions. But Sonic finally managed to locate a strand of energy and begin unlocking it.

The energy slammed into him like a tidal wave. The surge almost knocked him off his feet as the waves of Chaos flooded his body. The ethereal light drove itself into every pore. The sensation was almost physically painful as the energy that was left tried to compensate for the missing emotions. Normally, the colour of Chaos was a deep gold. The deep red of anger slightly tempered by the white light of purer Chaos. This time, the Chaos was all white. The light burned away at Sonic's inner eye. The light and energy felt like it was trying to pull Sonic apart at the seams. Then, just as it seemed as if Sonic couldn't take any more, the pain stopped.

Super Sonic stood back up from where he had been kneeling over the Emeralds. His friends were forced to turn away as Sonic's radiant light blinded them. Super Sonic was far brighter this time than he had been when fighting Eggman's harder mechs. The natural anger of the Chaos was gone, spent fuelling the Water God that now turned to regard the new pinprick of light. With only a slight roar, Perfect Chaos opened his mouth and fired a searing beam of energy straight at the hedgehog. Super Sonic merely raised a hand and clicked his fingers. The beam fizzled into many sparks that fell into the water. Sonic grinned at the angry expression that now adorned Perfect Chaos' face.

"If that's the best you can do, then this really won't take long." Then, with a slight bend of the knees, Super Sonic blazed away towards Perfect Chaos in a trail of golden light.


	4. Darkness

Thanks once again for all the positive feedback. Especially to Super Dragon, my most faithful reviewer. With regards to the suggestion made to me, I understand the logic behind it, but I probably won't reveal the main character of the chapter beforehand as I often like to reveal details later in order to make it more dramatic (like me not mentioning Sonic by name in Chapter1 until the very end.) But thanks for the suggestion anyway.

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Disclaimer: All official characters are copyrighted by Sega and Sonic Team.

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Chapter 4: Darkness

Sonic stared down in mute horror as the tiny golden object fell from the rapidly disintegrating body of his newest friend.

"Sonic... I'm... sorry. I knew... all along... I knew what would happen, and I still got you involved." Shahra gasped as she struggled to remain conscious. Her pupils were enlarging and her breathing was becoming shallower. Sonic gripped her hand tighter, trying to force her to stay with him. She was _dying_ at his feet and she was still apologising. Sonic wanted to scream at her. To yell until she finally decided to stop blaming herself. But yelling wouldn't help now. It didn't look like anything would help now.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." No. It wasn't her fault. It was the fault of the monster standing across the room from him. The genie who was standing with a faint smirk on his face as the woman who was willing to betray her best friend for his love died just so he could obtain more power. Sonic was getting angrier now. The rage inside him was building up to the point where he would gleefully have torn Erazor limb from limb, and it still wouldn't be enough to repay the damage that Erazor had done. Both to the world, to himself and most of all, to Shahra.

"Did I change my destiny? Did I keep my promise?" Shahra asked again, grounding Sonic back in reality and away from the leering figure of Erazor. Sonic's head turned to look back down towards Shahra and he desperately gripped her hand tighter as he began to make another wish. The words almost fell over themselves as they were said in his hurry to say the wish and save her life.

"Shahra! Grant me a wish! I wish for you to not die and to go back to the way you were!" Sonic yelled. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes and they misted his vision. Sonic smiled slightly, certain that he could save Shahra. Her breathing was still shallow and Sonic could feel her growing weaker as she lay on his arm.

"I'm so sorry, Master…" her voice was barely more than a whisper as she tried to focus on Sonic's face using dying eyes. "I…cannot grant…" she never finished the sentence.

Shahra's body began to break up into millions of glowing particles. Sonic reached out, vainly attempting to catch some of them in his finger. Vainly hoping that he could save Shahra if only he could seize some of the particles, but the glowing orbs just slipped through his fingers. As he reached out, Sonic heard a loud crack and looked at his hand just in time to see the ring on his finger shatter and fall to the floor. Now the tears really did begin to fall and Sonic looked up into the face of Erazor Djinn. The purple genie shrugged and gave a grin.

"Hmph, in the end, such is the weak power of a Genie of the Ring." Outraged that Erazor would so casually disregard Shahra, Sonic did nothing to stop him as the genie lifted up a long nailed hand and summoned the seven world rings. The rings orbited Erazor for only a second before plunging into his body. The genie cried out as the rings shifted their power into his form. Erazor began to twist and writhe as the rings charged him, ascending him to a new form of power.

But the result was…horrible.

The monster's skin was constantly shifting as if blisters threatened to form and burst, as if something was moving underneath the surface and would break out at any moment. The creature had six arms and an overly large torso. One large eye was set in the centre of the head and a large distended jaw was filled with razor-sharp teeth. Sonic was disgusted at the creature. The creature was almost finished forming now, and it began to speak.

"I am Alf Layla wa-Layla. I AM the Arabian Nights. I will be its new creator! I will remake this world and this reality in my own image!"

"What?" Sonic screamed at the monstrosity. "Shahra died so that you could become _THAT_? You're just some sort of incomplete monster. You murdered her for this? You don't deserve that power. You don't even deserve to live." Sonic glared at the creature that had ruined his world. The hedgehog held up a hand and clenched it into a fist.

"Seven World rings. Listen to me! You can sense the chaos running through my body. This djinn cannot control your power. Leave him and give your power to me. Give me the strength to destroy him!" Sonic yelled still glaring at Alf Layla wa-layla. The monster screamed as the energy rippled under it's skin heeding Sonic's call. Sonic didn't even finch. This was for Shahra. Let him feel all the pain she felt. Three glowing rings burst out from under the monster's skin and shot straight into Sonic's chest. Sonic could feel their anger. They had been stolen and abused by a creature that had no right to their strength. Only three of them had been able to answer the hedgehog's summons. The others had been fully anchored to Alf Layla Wa-Layla. The grotesque demon turned and fled into the blackness beyond the door as the rings began to infuse Sonic.

Sonic took their anger and added it to his own. This time his super form was born, not of a desire to protect the innocent or to defend those who couldn't defend themselves. This form was born out of a desire for revenge, and a need to see Erazor Djinn dead at his feet.

The final result was a far cry from the golden radiance of Super Sonic. This form was a deep purple with two white stripes lining the topmost spine. Sonic's pupils had vanished leaving his eyes as white pits. Four glowing rings encircled his wrists and ankles. The new hedgehog floated a few centimetres off the ground and he hovered over to the door. Looking down at himself, Sonic smiled.

"Not Super Sonic, but not Dark Super Sonic either. I will call this…Dark Spines." and, looking back at the spot where Shahra had died, Sonic felt the rings on his wrists grow hotter from anger. Then, looking into the door, Dark Spines Sonic flew off into the darkness.

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There. I hope you enjoyed this. If this chapter seems similar to Light, it's because I was going for the obvious parallels between the two and the obvious contrast between Super Sonic and Dark Spines.


	5. Seeking Solace

Glad that people are still reading and enjoying my story. In England, Sonic Unleashed comes out tomorrow so be prepared for a few chapters starring our favourite blue werehog or the new characters from that game in the future. But for now, you'll have to settle for a chapter based on Sonic the Hedgehog 360.

WARNING: This chapter in the fic will deal with the scene in Sonic 360 in which Sonic dies. If you don't like that scene or feel that you dislike the subject matter, please skip this chapter and go straight to another one.

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Disclaimer: Sonic and all official characters are copyrighted to SEGA and Sonic Team.

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Knuckles drew in a deep breath and managed to pull himself onto his elbows. His head was still swimming from the after effects of the….what was that anyway? Some kind of weird Chaos Control? The echidna shook his head in an effort to clear it and glanced around his new surroundings. He seemed to be standing on some sort of floating platform. The pang of homesickness for his island flitted briefly through Knuckles' heart before he dismissed it and walked over to the edge of the platform. A railing made of a stylized purple metal surrounded the platform and several broken pillars dotted the area. Behind one of the pillars, Knuckles saw the crumpled figures of Tails and Amy. The two were unconscious but they seemed to be unharmed and Knuckles could see that they were breathing strongly. If they had been Sonic, Knuckles would have assumed them to be asleep given Sonic's predilection for sleeping anywhere and through anything. The echidna walked over to the rail and leant on it. Gazing up into what passed for a sky in this crazy place, Knuckles could see a giant white creature hovering above the platform. The sky (if that's what you could call it) was a deep violet, verging on black. Streaks of lighter colour stained the panorama and the different coloured bands were slowly being drawn towards the white creature.

"What the hell is that?" he murmured to the empty air as he continued to stare at the floating monster.

"That's Solaris." A voice said right by his ear. The echidna spun round on one foot to end up staring into the impassive face of Shadow. The hedgehog was standing at the railing next to Knuckles and was also looking up at the creature. Behind the pair on the platform Rouge was tending to Tails and Amy who had both awoken and were looking around in confusion in their new surroundings. E-123 Omega was standing guard over another figure that Knuckles hadn't noticed until now. The giant robot had his arms transformed into their machine gun forms and had both of them pointed at the unconscious figure of Doctor Eggman. The doctor was slouched over against the railings on the other side of the platform. As the two watched the bat tend to the two younger mobians, they were both forced to shield their eyes as their immediate space became filled with the most intensely white light that they had ever seen. It seemed to last for an eternity but when it finally faded, a white hedgehog was standing in the centre of the platform. This hedgehog wasn't unconscious like most of the others had been, he was staring around. He squinted and hissed in anger when he saw Solaris above them. Shadow left Knuckles side and walked over to the newcomer.

"Silver. I wondered how long it would be until Solaris brought you here." the black hedgehog said, putting his hand on the white hedgehog's shoulder.

"So it's begun." Silver said in reply. "Solaris has begun to assimilate the timelines already." Shadow closed his eyes and nodded slowly. Behind him, Omega's gun barrels clicked and whirred which signalled that Doctor Eggman had regained consciousness. Shadow held up a hand and Knuckles heard the reluctant sound of the guns being disarmed.

"Things do seem dire. If we expect to come out of this alive, we are going to need Sonic's help" the ebony hedgehog admitted walking over to Omega and Rouge and leading the two towards the railing. Silver glanced briefly at Amy before walking over to join the trio. Knuckles contemplated joining them but then aborted the idea as a second bright glow invaded the area. When it faded, Sonic and Princess Elise were lying on the ground. The princess was lying on her side facing away from Knuckles but Sonic was lying on his front and his eyes were closed in the depths of unconsciousness. If the situation were any different, Knuckles would have been content to let Sonic sleep off the effects of Solaris' transportation. However, as the situation seemed to warrant a speedy resolution, the echidna walked over to the hedgehog's prone form and kicked him lightly in the ribs.

"Come on hedgehog. This is no time to be sleeping. We got a problem with ugly." Knuckles jerked a thumb over his shoulder in Solaris' general direction. There was no response from the hedgehog so the echidna kicked Sonic again, this time hard enough to cause the hedgehog to flip over onto his back.

That was when Knuckles saw the blood.

The blood had crusted all the way down Sonic's front. The start of the wound was just above Sonic's heart and the trail of encrusted blood fell all the way down the hedgehog's chest and stomach turning the cream fur to a sickly brown. The shock of the massive amount of blood overloaded the echidna's mind so much that he didn't actually comprehend the fact that Sonic wasn't breathing for some seconds.

With a gasp, Knuckles fell down onto his behind and began back-pedalling away from Sonic's corpse. The hedgehog continued to not move. Knuckles kept back away softly muttering "No…no!" Under his breath as he hoped that by moving away from Sonic would reverse the hedgehog's condition. Then a cry interrupted his thoughts.

Tails ran straight past Knuckles and fell to his knees by Sonic's head. With one hand he grabbed Sonic's own hand and held it in a tight grip. With his other hand, he began to shake Sonic's shoulder lightly.

"Sonic! You gotta get up! We need you." Tears were starting to fall now from the kitsune's eyes as he refused to let go of his hero's shoulder. Knuckles moved to take the fox's shoulder but another hand held the guardian back. Knuckles turned and looked up into the face of Doctor Eggman. The scientist's face was serious and Knuckles could swear that he could see a tear making it's way out from under the doctor's glasses.

"There's nothing you could do to make this any easier for him." Eggman said sadly. Knuckles nodded slightly and turned to look at Shadow and his friends. Rouge's face was pale and her hands were over her mouth. Knuckles pulled himself to his feet and ran over to her. Rouge ran to meet him and she fell crying into his arms. Shadow was turned away from the platform and was glaring up at Solaris. His face was carefully impassive but his knuckles were white as he clenched the railings so hard he was actually making dents in it. Both Silver and Omega were remaining tactfully silent. But Amy's reaction was the worst.

She just screamed.

It is said that you cannot hear pain. All you can hear is the accompaniments. You can hear bones breaking or flesh tearing. But the actual pain you can never hear. The sound of Amy's scream was so hollow and strange that Knuckles pulled slightly away from Rouge and moved towards Amy. Rouge saw Knuckles' concerned expression and nodded to him. Knuckles moved over to where she was lying and knelt down beside her. Amy looked up and him with tear filled eyes for only a few seconds before throwing herself into his arms and crying out the silent pain of a broken heart.

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Oh man. Why am I so morbid? I promise the next one will be at least more lighted hearted than this was. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. So please review and don't forget to join us again for part 6.


	6. Break Away

Anyway, Sonic Unleashed was pushed back a couple of weeks. So, no Werehog chapter yet. Instead, this latest instalment shall focus on everyone's favourite black hedgehog. Shadow.

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Disclaimer: All official characters are copyrighted to SEGA and Sonic Team

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Chapter 6: Break Away

Shadow stared at the ground with a grim look before closing his eyes and clenching his fists so hard that he threatened to draw blood even through the thick fabric of his gloves. How could he have made such a monumental screw-up? Not only did his own personal vendetta cause several billion dollars worth of damage to the human military. He had also gathered all seven chaos emeralds and handed them over to an obviously hostile alien entity. And for what? The promise of a tale of his past that would no doubt be filled with the same lies that Black Doom had spouted in order to convince Shadow to gather the emeralds. Shadow almost laughed at his own stupidity. He had felt the tremors of the comet a few moments ago as Black Doom had warped the comet down to the surface of the Earth. The alien leader was so confident in the success of his plan that he had told Shadow everything. How using the Chaos Emeralds was the only way to allow the Black Comet to pass through the atmosphere and begin sucking the Earth dry. And he couldn't have done it without Shadow's help.

Shadow could hear the struggles of Sonic and the others behind him. Even after all the damage that Shadow had done to the humans, and the world as a whole, Sonic and the others were still willing to try and help him. Shadow tried to stand up, to tell them how sorry he was, but his muscles wouldn't obey him. A gurgling laugh caught Shadow's attention and he swivelled his eyes to look at the base of Black Doom's robe hovering a few feet off the ground. The longer pendant was a few inches from Shadow's muzzle. Shadow was unable to see the alien's face but knew that Black Doom would be wearing the same self-satisfied smirk that he always seemed to.

"A special weapon…" Black Doom began explaining. Shadow couldn't help but think about how much this guy loved the sound of his own voice. Nevertheless, Black Doom continued. "This gas, once released, is quickly absorbed into your bloodstream. In a moment, total paralysis will hit your nervous system. The end is near for you," another wet chuckle met Shadow's ears and the hedgehog shuddered internally. "Ahh... my dear offspring... Eat and devour these savoury dishes!" Several wet slaps echoed across the chamber as several alien spawns identical to the many that Shadow had already destroyed dropped to the floor. Shadow felt a sharp impact on his back and then a stabbing pain as a set of alien incisors sliced their way into his flesh. Behind him, the shouts (and scream from Amy) told him that the others were in trouble as well.

Anger flashed behind Shadow's eyes. The memories of all those that he had promised to help surged into his mind, refused to be held back any longer. Gerald, Rouge, Omega, Sonic and his friends, Maria. Shadow growled, his vocal chords straining against the paralyzing effects of the gas. He'd screwed up enough already. He wasn't going to mess up helping the others again.

Shadow's eyes flicked open. With a grunt, the Ultimate Life form pulled himself to his feet, muscles straining as the gas tried to hold him back. With a phenomenal effort, Shadow grabbed the spawn from his back and threw it to the ground. The creature lay upside down wriggling slightly for a few seconds before Shadow lifted up and air shoe and trod on it. Black Doom's eyes in surprise as he looked down on the red and black hedgehog standing before him.

"What is the meaning of this? Shadow, have you forgotten our deal?" The alien said. Shadow shook his head slightly and looked up at Black Doom

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog. I've left the past behind me. No one can tell me what to do now! I will destroy you, Black Doom! You promised that you'd tell me about my past. But I don't care anymore. All I know now is that you need to pay for what you've done."

"Well said Shadow." Black Doom chuckled. "but you forget one thing." The creature held up a cloven hand.

A burning pain hit Shadow behind the eyes. It was so intense that Shadow fell to his knees clutching his head. He could dimly make out Rouge's concerned cry as his vision began to fade to red.

"Do you feel that Shadow?" Black Doom asked mockingly. Shadow was in to much pain to respond, his teeth ground together as he clawed at his temples.

"We are from the same blood, you and I. You are a part of me. I can control you. You can never escape me, or your past. You are bound to both, forever!"

"No…that can't be true!" Shadow managed to force out but he still couldn't overcome the pain.

What happened next was a mystery for some time. But screens all around the ceremonial chamber that the group were congregated flickered to life with the image of Gerald Robotnik. Later, it was revealed that the images were a recording initiated by the Chaotix from aboard the ARK. Vector would chalk the success up to "a brilliant piece of investigative teamwork" in the official government report but Espio would repeatedly tell anyone who would listen that it was nothing but dumb luck. Either way, screens all over the planet flickered to life and began to transmit the same message.

"Shadow, my son...If you're listening to this, then the worst has happened... you need to know the truth. The government plans to shut down this research facility...The government plans to cease all of our research... and imprison all who know about you. I made a terrible mistake, Shadow... It's all my fault... making contact with that Comet.. In fifty years, the Black Comet will return... They plan to harness its powers to destroy this planet! The only way to stop them... was to develop a way to use the very power THEY intended to use AGAINST them. Shadow... it's up to you and only you can stop them! I developed the Eclipse Cannon... It's the only weapon that can destroy that Black Comet. Shadow, you are the only hope to save mankind as we know it... The future of this planet depends on you!" The kindly voice of Gerald Robotnik spoke to the entire world, but his words were intended for only one person, the black hedgehog kneeling in front of an alien master. Black Doom waited in silence for Gerald's speech to end before laughing, long and loud.

"Wonderful Gerald. An ingenious plan, but far too late. Shadow is already under my control and now this world will pay the price…WHAT?" Black Doom shouted in surprise as Shadow staggered to his feet and opened one bloodshot eye. Slowly, the hedgehog lowered his hands and glared at the alien mastermind.

"I already told you Black Doom, I'm no-one's servant. I've broken free from your control. My life is my own. You don't own me any more. I made a promise and I'm here to keep it. Today I put my past behind me." As Shadow spoke, he reached behind him and pulled a gun out of his quills. He had found it whilst searching aboard the ARK, hidden in the space underneath Gerald's old desk where the young Shadow would play hide and seek with Maria. A father's parting gift to his child. The Shadow Rifle.

With a cry of rage, Shadow leapt at Black Doom and, as he did so, the alien's eyes widened once more. Not in surprise, or intrigue but this time, in genuine fear.

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Hope you enjoyed, please don't forget to review. I promise that I'll update more frequently if I get reviews. This chapter took a week to be produced partly because of no reviews. But either way, join us next time for chapter 7: Heaven.


	7. Heaven

Hi everybody. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I've gotten into my stride now so from this point on updates will most likely be done on a once a week basis. On a side note. I wish I'd waited a little bit because Sonic the Werehog is such a great character for "Break Away" but I'm sure he'll be used in later chapters.

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Disclaimer: Sonic and all official characters are copyrighted SEGA and Sonic Team. Wall-E is copyrighted Disney-Pixar. Spongebob Squarepant is copyrighted Nickelodeon (is it still Nickelodeon?)

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Chapter 7: Heaven

Shadow glared at the people crowding into a room that was too small to hold all of them and he endeavoured to hide further in a corner whilst growling in an effort to scare any over-inquisitive children away.

At this point, it should probably be explained that Shadow was currently hiding in the lobby of a movie theatre. Sonic's impressive run of successful hiding places had finally ended and an overly excited pink hedgehog had dragged (literally dragged) the blue hedgehog to the movie theatre to watch the latest chick flick with her. However, Sonic's dignity was not quite lost. The blue hero had managed to slightly ruin Amy's plans and been able to make a phone call and invite Tails. Of course, Tails had invited Cream. And then, Cream being Cream, she had invited _everyone_. The Chaotix had apparently been busy with a high-profile case, but Vector had almost begged Cream to take Charmy. The young bee had apparently already destroyed an entire stack of valuable case notes by dropping coffee on them. Rouge had managed to convince Knuckles to deign to descend from his lofty peaks and was now hanging on his arm and smiling sweetly at every other man who displayed interest in her, of which there were a lot. Knuckles was sending death glares to anyone who even looked the wrong way at his girlfriend. Shadow wasn't sure when Rouge had Knuckles had made the transition to actually being a couple, but Shadow wasn't complaining considering that Rouge was now out of the house more often, leaving him free to watch whatever he wanted on television. Sadly, Rouge had decided that Shadow needed to get out more and integrate into society. This meant that, with the not so idle threat of giving Shadow's chaos emerald to Sonic, Shadow had been forced to leave the safety of Rouge's house and brave the cinema. Rouge had been adamant that Omega wasn't allowed to come so Shadow was trying to fight off a horde of human children who all wanted to 'pet the furry' on his own.

Given that three of the party were children and that Shadow would most likely rip the head off of anyone who even suggested taking Shadow to see a girl's movie, a compromise had been reached and the group had decided, (or at least not complained too much on Shadow's part) to go and see some sort of weird-ass movie starring a garbage disposal robot. Shadow wondered exactly how gratifying it would be to walk over to the main display, tear off Wall-E's little cardboard head and stuff it in the top of the drinks machine but his thoughts of child traumatisation were cut short when Sonic wandered over. Now that all of his friends had arrived, the hedgehog was no longer technically on a date, which pleased him immensely.

"Hey Shadow." Sonic grinned raising a hand in greeting. A light "Hmph" was the black hedgehog's reply. Sonic shrugged.

"Anyway, the movie starts in a few, so Amy's got me queuing for snacks and stuff." The hedgehog pointed over his shoulder and indicated Charmy who was struggling to fly under the weight of a tub of chocolate ice cream that was at least as big as he was. This amount of sugar would be sending the bee into his own personal heaven/sugar high. In fact, before the movie was over, Shadow could probably convince the bee that he was the living embodiment of Spongebob Squarepants and watch the bee worship him.

"So, Shadow. You want me to get you some popcorn or an ice cream or something?"

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"Shadow. What do you think heaven's like?" Maria asked. The hedgehog and human duo were standing in their usual place on the observation deck , looking down on the blue planet below. The conversation up until that point had been along the same veins that their normal conversations usually run along. So far, the main topics of discussion had been Shadow's latest training sessions with the GUN commander on the base and the shared tutoring that Maria and Shadow had been undergoing meant that the human and hedgehog would occasionally meet in their usual spot and share crib notes on the homework or an upcoming test. But this time after Maria had helped Shadow work out his maths homework, she had turned and asked her question.

"I don't know." Shadow responded, turning away from the Earth and looking at the surrounding stars. "The professor didn't really talk to me on the subject." Actually, Professor Gerald hadn't spoken to Shadow on the subject at all. Given that Maria's condition left her constantly weak and prone to all sorts of infections, the professor was constantly aware that the girl would probably die long before her time and so refrained to talking to Shadow on such a sensitive subject, especially considering that the hedgehog was only seven. The GUN commander on the base had actually spoken more on the subject of religion than Gerald had. Although, in the commander's view, religion was only used as a means of starting a war.

"Well that's awful Shadow. Everyone should know about heaven." Maria said, genuine shock evident in her eyes.

"Why? What's heaven meant to be anyway?" Shadow asked. The two sat on the floor next to each other, the panorama of the earth forgotten in lieu of this new avenue of conversation. Maria picked up the small hedgehog and placed him in her lap and began running her fingers absentmindedly through his top-spine.

"Heaven's a wonderful place Shadow. It's all white and clean. And when you go there, you can never get sick or hurt again." Maria responded with a faint smile as Shadow's young eyes turned to look up into hers. Shadow wasn't aware of the specifics but he knew that Maria was very sick because sometimes she'd be rushed away from her rooms or the cafeteria. Once, the girl had even collapsed in their shared tutorial after she accidentally pricked herself with her compass and the bleeding just wouldn't stop. The hedgehog, who was little more than a toddler at the time had just stood there with tears in his eyes as the paramedics had rushed in and taken her away.

"That's great Maria!" Shadow said, clambering out of the girl's lap and bouncing up and down on his toes. "If we go there, you'll never be sick again. C'mon." He reached down for the girl's hand. "Let's go find Heaven!" The girl took his hand, but instead of standing, she pulled the hedgehog back down into an embrace.

"Oh Shadow." she said, tears were welling in the corners of her eyes but she smiled and breathed in the comforting scent of Shadow's fur as she clutched him to her chest. "We can't just choose to go. We'll go one day, but not today. Not for a long time OK?" the black hedgehog looked up in confusion but he nodded slowly. "Besides, once you go, you can't come back and you'd miss everyone wouldn't you?" Shadow nodded emphatically.

"So tell me more about it." Shadow said. "What's it like there?"

"It's full of all the things you like best." Maria smiled before laughing slightly. "I reckon it's full of ice-cream. You remember how I can't eat ice-cream?" she asked. Shadow nodded quickly.

"Yeah, it's too cold and it makes you sick."

"But if I can't get sick. I can eat all the ice cream I want." Maria smiled. Shadow considered this for a moment and stuck his tongue out.

"What flavour?" he asked, "Anyway, I prefer popcorn," the little ebony hedgehog had become obsessed with the snack after eating three packets during his last movie night with Maria.

"Strawberry." Maria said without hesitation, "but you like chocolate right Shadow?" Shadow nodded. Both of them turned to look at the door across the chamber as Professor Gerald walked unsteadily into the room.

"Ah Shadow, there you are." the professor grinned. "And what have you two been talking about today, not comparing notes for the chemistry test I hope?"

"No Grandpa." Maria smiled innocently. "We were talking about heaven." The professor's grin fell and he frowned, but only for a second before he smiled widely again not wishing to show disappointment in front of his granddaughter and Shadow.

"Really? Intriguing. And what did you conclude?" he asked, trying to encourage Maria to speak in scientific terms.

"That it's full of ice cream. That way, we can all eat all the ice cream we want. I think it's full of Strawberry, but Shadow prefers chocolate. What do you think Grandpa?" Maria asked. The professor placed a hand to his chin in thought and stroked his moustache.

"I would have thought the conclusion was obvious." Gerald replied after a few seconds. "It would clearly be vanilla, the only flavour that everyone likes." then he laughed heartily as Maria and Shadow stuck their tongues out simultaneously.

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Shadow blinked as Sonic's hand waved in front of his eyes. The hedgehog coolly turned to regard the azure hedgehog.

"Yes?" Shadow asked.

"Um…You kinda zoned out there for a minute Shads." Sonic responded, a hint of worry lacing his features. "So, you want an ice-cream?" The blue hedgehog was shocked when Shadow actually _smiled_. The black hedgehog shook his head slightly and waved a hand dismissively.

"Just a drink Sonic. Thanks." The blue hedgehog nodded and ran off to rejoin the crowd. Shadow watched him go before turning returning to his plans for destroying Wall-E.

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There you go. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me how my first attempt at mild humour at the start of the chapter went. Either way, I'll see you next week for Chapter 8: Innocence.


	8. Innocence

Hello everyone, and a special thanks to everyone who's been reviewing this story. This chapter makes this my second story to pass the 10,000 word mark so I hope this'll be a good chapter. So anyway, kick back and enjoy Chapter 8.

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Disclaimer: All official Sonic characters are owned by SEGA and Sonic Team.

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Chapter 8: Innocence

"_War brings only two things. The death of innocents and the death of innocence."_

Sonic came screeching to a stop amidst the rubble of Robotnik's latest raid and bit back a swearword at the destruction that now followed in the Doctor's wake. This was one of the worst hit towns that Sonic had seen for a while. There was barely a single wall left standing. Fires started by some of Robotnik's more specialised badniks still roared their defiance to the night's sky. Sonic had seen this destruction wrought many times before, not least of all on his own village of Green Hill and he knew that he wouldn't find any survivors but something still forced him to search. To turn over wreckage and burning rubble in a desperate attempt to salvage some sort of decency from the workings of a madman. Sonic felt his cheeks burn as he scrabbled in the dirt but he still couldn't bring himself to stop searching.

Then, just as Sonic was about to give up and continue his pursuit of Robotnik, his ears pricked up as he heard a sound that, under any normal circumstances would have been nothing special. He heard the sound of crying. Spinning on one foot, Sonic turned his head to try and pinpoint the source of the noise. It was coming from a pile of rocks that seemed to have once formed part of the wall surrounding the village. Upon closer inspection, the rocks had been blown outwards by some sort of concussive force and had formed some sort of little shelter. And, from the crying inside, some trapped occupant had been encased within this prison.

"Hey!" Sonic yelled. The crying died down slowly but no reply was forthcoming. Sonic just nodded silently to himself, grabbed hold of the underside of one of the boulders and pulled. Progress was painfully slow, especially as Sonic stopped periodically to both give slight reassurance to the trapped figure and both to check that removing the stone that he was working on wouldn't cause the entire rock formation to collapse on the stranger's head. Eventually, with a grunt, and a shriek of rock scraping against rock, the rock slid out and Sonic was able to reach in and grab the hand of the occupant and drag him out of his cocoon of rock.

The figure was tiny, barely older than ten. It took Sonic a minute of looking underneath the grime and dirt that coated the boy's body to recognise that he was looking at a fox. Like most mobians, the boy wore only a pair of gloves and shoes. His fur was stained deeply but it smears of golden/yellow could be seen through the dirt. The boy's most distinguishing feature however, was the pair of tails that sprouted from his rear.

"Hey." Sonic knelt onto one knee in order to look the boy in the eye. "You okay?" the boy's eyes were wide with fear but he nodded slightly.

"I think so." he turned back to look at the wreckage of the village and the firelight reflected itself in the tears brimming in his eyes. "It was that scientist guy wasn't it?" Sonic nodded, unable to say anything. The fox looked at the burning ruins for a few minutes before looking back at Sonic.

"Who are you anyway? Are you chasing him?" He asked. Sonic nodded.

"Yeah. He blew up my home, just like he did here. And I'm going to stop him." Sonic's eyes were hard. The fox nodded in understanding.

"Take me with you." he said eventually. Sonic looked and the boy and made to shake his head but the boy held up a hand.

"I want to fight him. I want to. I don't…" the boy trailed off. "I don't want him to hurt anyone anymore." Sonic wanted to turn around and leave the boy behind. He wanted to say that the fox was too young to be involved in this fight, that he had a life ahead of him that he didn't have to waste fighting Robotnik. But something stopped him. What life did the kid have? I he was anything like Sonic then most of the life he had had was resting in the rubble that was all around them. Eventually, cursing his own weakness, Sonic held out a hand.

"Ok. If you're sure. I'm Sonic." The fox grabbed it immediately.

"I'm Miles. But my friends call…_called_ me Tails." Fresh tears brewed in the eyes at that sentence as the young boy, who should never have had to endure this pain remembered the friends he would never talk to again. And, looking at each other, the two mobians ran off together in the wake of Robotnik's latest scheme.

***

"Away. Before I make mincemeat of you." Eggman glared down at Tails from the cockpit of the Egg Walker. The fox boy could feel his knees starting to give out as the Doctor glared down at him behind his sunglasses. But then, the boy thought of the people crowding the streets behind him, cheering his name, desperate to make a hero out of anyone who would save them from the madman in the robotic monstrosity. Tails, looked back at them, all of them with eyes full of the hope that Tails had looked at Sonic with all those years ago. And, swallowing his own fear and replacing it with the hopes of a city, Tails charged the Egg Walker.

***

"Now. If you give me the Chaos Emerald, I will let you both go. You have my word." Eggman smiled the cold sincere smile of a murderer. Tails couldn't hear the man's words. His ears were full of Amy's scream as Sonic's escape capsule had detonated. His could still see the terrible fire as his hero incinerated in the explosion. Without even saying a word, Tails pulled the triggers in the cyclone. Bullets raked through the air and tore into the armour plating on Eggman's walker. The doctor's arms raced for the controls and he tried to return fire but Tails was hitting vital systems now. Breaking the doctor's machine piece by piece. Eggman looked into Tails' eyes which were now full of the fury that Eggman had only seen before in Sonic.

"This is for Sonic."

***

"Sonic go!" Tails yelled. The blue hedgehog looked back at Tails as the rising water levels covered his knees. The young fox was standing directly in front of Charyb looking the android in the eye. Behind Sonic, Shadow was dragging the short-circuiting Omega up the stairs to dry ground.

"You can't fight Charyb underwater. Just find a way to shut the water off!" Tails yelled, ducking as Charyb fired an energy beam at the fox's head. Sonic looked back at the fox, who had come so far from the terrified boy that Sonic had pulled from that pile of rubble seven years ago and shook his head. He had tried to say, right at the start that Tails was too young to become involved in this fight. And now Sonic's worst fears were becoming realised. Tails was fighting a fight that Sonic couldn't protect him in. The water was up to his chest now and Sonic winced as Charyb blocked Tails' thrust and backhanded the fox into a pile of pipes. But the fox pulled himself up with a wince and threw himself back into the fight and, with a sad look at his best friend, Sonic ran.

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And there we go. It was about time for Tails to get some airtime. People always seem to ignore how much of a warrior Tails has become over the years so I thought I'd do a tribute to this little fox. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and that you'll return for chapter 9: Drive.


	9. Drive

Hello everyone. Sorry for the lateness of this update but Christmas combined with an upcoming university project meant that I was unable to get in front of the computer for any real length of time. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and don't forget to review as it speeds up the process exponentially. Also, I would direct you all to The Conflicted Wrtier's story Metal Overdrive if you like this story. Not only is it very well written but also, more voice actors are still required for his audio adaptation of it, so go check it out, after reviewing this chapter first of course :)

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Disclaimer: Sonic and all official characters are copyrighted by Sega and Sonic Team

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Chapter 9: Drive

Welcome to the luxurious Club Rouge, the most up and coming trendy nightclub this side of the Blue Ridge Zone. With a vibrant atmosphere and a selection of drinks for even the most fickle connoisseur, you'll be sure to find something to suit your tastes. We also have some of the best bar-staff in the city who will be happy to make your life a little better. And, if your not in the mood for a lively club scene, why not purchase a temporary pass to lounge in our back room with a glass of wine or a good book.

"And, if you manage to avoid the security guards and make your way to the lower levels of the building you'll find that the proprietress is currently hiding a black hedgehog with genocidal tendencies and one of Doctor Eggman's most advanced death mechs in the basement, of which we are very proud."

Shadow smiled and put down the pen from writing his little addendum to Rouge's latest promotional flyer. With a grunt at his stiff muscles, the hedgehog stood up from his spot on the couch and walked into Rouge's bedroom. Carefully, he placed his modified flyer on her pillow and, with a quick backwards glance pocketed her car keys from her dresser. Then Shadow walked across the flat and over to the staircase. He was frankly surprised that Rouge was able to fit her sizable amount of possessions into the an area with the floor space of Club Rouge but he also figured that, Rouge being Rouge, she had more likely than not greased a few palms when the basement was being built to allow for her to expand beyond the building's limits.

When he reached the staircase, instead of ascending towards the club itself, Shadow descended into the lower bowels of the building. Before too long, a steel door blocked his way, but Shadow was well aware of the password. He tapped the letters T.E.A.M.D.A.R.K into the keypad next to the door and continued downstairs.

Not long after defeating Metal Sonic aboard the Egg Fleet, Shadow and Omega had moved into Rouge's apartment. But before long, the monetary strain of having a second mouth to feed, along with all the mechanical parts that Omega continually went through meant that even with Rouge's considerable pay check from the government and the profit that Club Rouge was making, money was starting to become tight which in turn prompted Rouge to convince Shadow to try and find work. Which was harder than it looked. Unlike Rouge, Shadow had made no secret of the fact that he was conspiring with Doctor Eggman aboard the ARK, and Shadow could provide none of the documentation usually required for employment, given that he had no Social Security number, or even a birth certificate. There was only one real job avenue open for him, taking a job as a special operative of G.U.N. Shadow wasn't enamoured with the idea but with little alternative, he had joined the government. It was some consolation that he was partnered with Rouge for the majority of his missions and even more of a consolation that the head of G.U.N.'s special ops division had also recruited Omega and made the three into an elite team for high-profile missions. So, for now, working for G.U.N. wasn't so bad.

Shadow exited the stairs into Rouge's basement. There was little here, even the floor was no more than solid concrete. Shadow's air shoes made little clicking sounds as he crossed over to the new opening in the wall on the opposite side of the room. Omega had been busy extending the sub-basement to create a firing range for his own use. Until this point Omega had been using crudely erected targets in the yard behind Club Rouge at night for his practice sessions. But the sounds of machine gun fire had brought the police calling in the early hours of the morning one too many times for Rouge's liking and she had bought Omega some building supplies and told him to extend the basement instead of practicing in the yard. Shadow considered yelling to Omega over the sounds of construction but instead thought better of it. Shadow turned away and walked into Rouge's garage.

There were four vehicles in the garage. The first was a large olive-green utility van that was used when Team Dark (as the trio were known within G.U.N.) needed to be transported to a mission location. The second was a silver Porsche that Rouge used for her day to day life. Shadow did have a set of keys for the Porsche but was instructed on pain of death to never use the car except in an emergency. The final two were a pair of motorbikes. One was a pure white and another was black with red streaks down the sides. Shadow walked over to the latter bike and hopped aboard. Shadow had found his bike during the Black Arm invasion of Westopolis. Hours of running through a broken city had exhausted the black hedgehog and, when he had seen the black motorcycle in a side-alley, the hedgehog had taken it. Shadow had hidden the bike when he had left the city but, once the invasion had been thwarted, Shadow had returned and was pleased to find it still there. He had taken the bike back to Rouge's apartment and had customised it to his size and shape and afterwards, the bike had become his primary means of transport when he wasn't in the mood for running.

After a few minutes, Shadow was out of the city limits and on the Speed Highway to Station Square. It was true, driving a motorbike was far a different experience than running and both were good in their own way.

"Hey! Shadow!" The voice was almost lost in the rushing wind but Shadow's sensitive ears just managed to make it out, and he turned to see a familiar blue shape rocketing up to him. Sonic slowed down once he was level with the bike and turned his head to look at the black hedgehog.

"Still going around on that old bike? Your ten times faster off it you know." the blue hedgehog grinned. Shadow gave a quick smirk back.

"Maybe so. But I'm still fast enough for you." then, the bike accelerated overtaking Sonic easily and racing away down the road. Sonic watched it tear away and laughed to himself.

"Heh. You've still got a few good races left in you yet Shadow." Then, accelerating to the speed of sound in under a second, Sonic rocketed after the bike.

In was gone midnight by the time Shadow staggered into Rouge's flat. He was wheeling the bike along and for very good reason. The front fender was completely smashed and all of the paint was missing along one side. Shadow himself was bleeding from a large gash on his forehead and large bruises were already forming on his arms and chest. Rouge was standing in the lounge, with her hands on her hips, Shadow's altered brochure clenched in one gloved hand. Omega was standing behind her, but the robot was constantly swivelling his head to look around at the entire room. Shadow could sense that Rouge was preparing to shout at him, both for defiling her brochure and being out so late. But one look at the wounded hedgehog and her fury melted away into genuine concern. She helped Shadow over to the couch where he collapsed in a groaning heap.

"What happened Shadow? Where were you all this time? I was going to come looking for you but I can't find my keys anywhere." she asked sending Omega into the kitchen for a bag of frozen peas. Shadow looked up at her, remembering being side by side with Sonic on the Speed Highway before taking a hairpin too tightly, smashing into and over the guardrail and colliding with the pavement 100 feet below. Then he had walked all the way up to the same hairpin to recover his bike. Sonic had been standing there, looking over the rail for any sign of the ebony hedgehog. Sonic had briefly enquired about Shadow's health before running off again when it was obvious that Shadow was not seriously hurt.

"Oh, you know Rouge. Just out for an afternoon's drive."

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Apologies if this chapter didn't seem very Drive related but I also wanted to focus on Shadow's life outside of the games now and how he ended up working for G.U.N. (Yes I know Sonic '06 isn't canon but I think Shadow working for G.U.N. makes sense.) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and that you'll join us again next time for chapter 10: Breath Again. And don't forget to R+ R. It makes the brains go faster.


	10. Breathe Again

Hi All. Sorry about the slight delay to this update. I've had mid-term exams to deal with and now that those are finally over I can update this story, as well as a couple of my other works that I've neglected for so long. But this will be taking up most of my time. So anyway. Enough from me. Just sit back and enjoy Chapter 10

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Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all official characters are copyrighted by SEGA and Sonic Team

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Chapter 10: Breathe Again

The sounds of gunfire and flashes of light echoed all over the deck of the Egg Carrier as, in the arena where Sonic and Knuckles had vanquished Chaos 6, two brothers fought each other.

E101-Beta's claws raked through thin air as Gamma ducked underneath his charge. With a digital shriek, Beta slammed his jets into reverse, trying to swing round and present his energy shield to Gamma before his brother could recover. One laser burst snagged some exposed wiring on his left arm, but the two other shots fizzled out harmlessly against his shield, illuminating it for a brief moment as a rainbow coloured bubble before it faded back to transparency. Beta opened the concealed weapon compartments on his arms before firing a group of cluster missiles at the red E-series member. Gamma's laser tag flared into life, targeting the missiles. All but one detonated in a ball of fire and ash, but the one that remained unscathed slammed into Gamma's breastplate knocking the younger robot onto his back.

For a brief moment, Gamma's optical sensors registered no more than blackness before, with a flicker of static, he was able to see again. As the younger robot had taken more and more damage over the course of his mission and this battle, his vision was now interspersed with the occasional patch of binary code, giving him debilitating blind spots. Gaping holes were apparent in his torso from where Beta had scored a lucky hit on one of his previous attack runs. Exposed wiring was now visible through the hole and the damage he had taken had knocked out his radar systems. Gamma's right leg was buckled as well from when Beta had slashed him. When the black robot had flown at him Gamma had the presence of mind to grab the black robot's arms and drag the two of them down in a metallic heap. Gamma's leg had been bent badly in the struggle, but Beta had flown away with one less claw than he had gone in with. The black robot was smoking now from his jets and his left arm kept twitching uncontrollably. Gamma looked at his brother with pity. Pity? Where had that come from? Unbeknownst to Gamma, the link between robot brain and organic battery was breaking down, allowing Gamma to begin to exhibit emotion, a previously unknown experience amongst robots. The process had been catalysed when Sonic had torn into Gamma during their battle aboard the Egg Carrier, in a location close to where the two brothers were now fighting.

The creature inside Gamma could tell that the organic battery powering Beta was suffering. The robot's programming was far less forgiving than Gamma's was. Gamma's programming was designed to ease off the pressure on the organic battery during times of combat, allowing the creature's natural instinct to take over and assist in battle. Beta's new design was to keep the organic component completely subservient for the entire time, rendering it as no more than a captive fuel source. With an effort, Gamma pushed himself to his feet and dodged his brother's next ramming attack. His gun swivelled instinctively with Gamma's eye-line and landed a shot on Beta's exhaust pipe. The left pipe of the pair spluttered, coughed and died, sending Beta into a frantic spiral into the ground. Gamma hobbled over, trying to keep his weight off his bad leg. Beta spun around, trying to ignite his forward shield and save himself from more structural damage. Gamma fired at Beta's prone form in order to prevent his brother from using his aerial advantage. As Gamma closed in on his brother, Beta turned and thrust forward with his dual claws, only one of which had been broken off. The three spikes shot forwards into Gamma's torso punching through his ammo feed line, his visual feed and his engine. As they did, Gamma's cannon placed a charged shot straight into Beta's eye. Gamma's pilot saw nothing but blackness, the inside of a metallic chassis that was now lit a dim red with warning lights. Now, lacking power, the metallic restraints holding the pilot in place snapped open and the creature wriggled free, her tiny wings flexing for the first time since Gamma's activation. Her eyes focussed on the slim rays of light filtering through the tears in Gamma's torso. As damage levels neared critical levels, Gamma's pilot managed to squeeze out of the damaged shell and into the air. Her eyes squinted as she saw sunlight for the first time in what seemed like an age. Her lungs filled with clear air as she inhaled a new type of air, other than the recycled oxygen that was pumped through Gamma's shell to keep her alive.

Now airborne, the pink flicky looked down at Beta's smouldering remains. As she stared, another beige flicky struggled out of it's remains and took to the air. Noticing the hovering bird overhead, the other flicky soared on the updrafts to her side.

"Thank you." he said, the words hoarse through unused vocal chords. "I could not fight the programming. I did not want to hurt you, but I couldn't fight it."

"It's OK Darling" the pink flicky responded nuzzling her husband's chest feathers. "We are both free, and that is all that matters. We may breathe free air once again."

And, now truly free, the duo flew away, as a pair of robot brothers died beneath them.

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Thanks for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it. When it came to writing this chapter, there were three real options that sprung to mind. I could deal with Sonic's aversion to water, but that's a bit straightforward and hard to write for 1000 words about. I could have dealt with Sonic or Shadow's resurrection, but I've already done Sonic's resurrection and I've been a bit Shadow heavy the last chapters and I do love the E-series so I figured I'd do this. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review. It makes it so much easier to write well when I know that people are enjoying this. But anyway, please come back and join us again for Chapter 11: Memory.


	11. Memory

Hi there everyone. Sorry about the lateness of this update (again.) I am getting better at it I promise! My computer had some problems over a week ago and it's taken me some time to get it back up to speed. Anyway, enjoy this latest offering. I present to you Chapter 11. Memory

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Disclaimer: Sonic and all related characters are copyrighted by SEGA and Sonic Team

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Chapter 11: Memory

Memories are a strange thing when considered frankly. Even one single event can be remembered in so many different ways, each depending on a person's viewpoint. For instance in reality, the final battle against the Metal Overlord aboard the Egg Fleet played out in only one way, twelve heroes uniting together against a common foe. Heroes who, under other circumstances would have been enemies all banded together to strike down the Metal Sonic. But each of the twelve remember the battle in a different way.

Sonic remembers the battle only for it's magnitude. The blue hedgehog has fought so many different foes in life or death struggles that it becomes more difficult to pick out individual fights. Of course, fighting a giant mutated metallic doppelganger over a gigantic Egg Fleet with Tails and Knuckles at his side tends to stick in the mind somewhat better than kicking the head off an egg pawn in a disused base. But even now, after only a few years, the details of the battle are already starting to fade into obscurity.

The details of this fight are still fresh in Tails' memory however. He remembers every single blow he dealt to Metal Sonic's outer shell. Every spike that he snapped off whilst in his Super form. He remembers all of these because it was in these actions that he was actually helping Sonic. For one of the few times in his life, Tails felt of actual use as opposed to an extraneous spare wheel. And every blow he dealt to Metal Sonic was a blow that Sonic didn't have to deal.

Knuckles only really remembers the power. It had been over seven years since he truly accessed the powers of the Chaos Emeralds and became Super Knuckles. He remembered the warm glow of invincibility, feeling spikes that would have skewered him like a kebab bounce harmlessly off his glowing pink chest. He remembered the power now held in his fists. Feeling the seismic quakes that emanated from his hands whenever he laid a finger on Metal Sonic's carapace and literally shook the robot apart from the inside. He remembered the love of that power and for a brief moment, desiring it more. But then he remembered his sacred duty to the Master Emerald, the one he was bound to protect and the one which was his only charge, the power of Chaos was meant for another.

If the memory of the details of the fight were blurred in Sonic's memory, they were all but shattered in Shadow's. The entirety of the fight was no more than a series of coloured flashes in his memory. Shadow could remember a few details concerning the events leading up to the final battle, a series of tantalising breadcrumbs about a forgotten past laid down by the very man who had caused his amnesia. And so, filled with rage at Eggman's deception, Shadow had lashed out at the nearest available target, Metal Sonic when aboard the deck of the Final Fortress.

Rouge remembers the fear. She was an individual never truly used to fighting, she had only fought in a life or death situation twice in her life. Once when trapped within the vault on Prison Island with three Chaos Emeralds, and once when fighting against Knuckles aboard the ARK. And, even though unused to true combat, Rouge was even more unused to battling for any reason other than self-preservation. And so, most of the memories of the fight that Rouge has concern her continually dodging the various spiked projectiles that Metal Sonic shot out and occasionally swooping in to grab Cream or Charmy when the young ones strayed too close to the monstrosities.

It is likely that the most accurate recollection of the battle is stored within the databanks of E-123 Omega. After all, hard data cannot be subjected to emotion and cannot fade over time. However, his time spent with Shadow and Rouge, combined with the superiority of Eggman's design meant that Omega did have a semblance of emotion. The only emotional interpretation that Omega bestowed upon his memory of the event was the knowledge that he didn't actually want to fight Metal Sonic. There was no doubt that the robot was a giant threat to humanity and should have been stopped. However, it was not Metal Sonic who had imprisoned Omega within the regeneration chamber and left him to rust. Metal Sonic was also a robot that shared a deep and unyielding hatred for Eggman and so, it was only at the behest of Shadow and Rouge, whom Omega had become endeared to, that the red robot fought a blue robot that might otherwise have been an ally.

If the fight is most accurately remembered by Omega, it is perhaps most distorted in the memory of Amy Rose. When Amy pictures the fight against the Metal Overlord, the metallic creature becomes a towering colossus, over two hundred metres tall bearing down upon a cowering Sonic and Amy, wielding her hammer being the single person standing between Sonic and certain doom, turning back the darkness of Metal Sonic on her own and winning Sonic's eternal adoration.

Cream remembers the battle. The young rabbit has rarely battled in her short life. She remembers hovering in the air, pleading with Metal Sonic to be nice and calm down. Certain that the robot was a good person, and just so angry at everything that he was being mean. Cream had several times, to be snatched away from danger by Miss Rouge. She remembers being scooped away from danger by Big and crying into his fur about the mean robot, who would be so nice if he would only sit down with a cup of tea and a daisy chain crown. But he just wouldn't listen, and so the pain had to go on.

Big didn't understand the fighting. He didn't realise that it had been the metallic hedgehog that had stolen Froggy and extracted his DNA. Big only remembers the desire to protect Amy and Cream. All through their journey, it had been Amy that had led the way, and Big had followed just to protect the young girls from danger. During the fight itself, Big remembers grabbing Amy from the path of Metal Sonic's claws as she continually threw herself at the creature. He remembers the feeling of his fur and the skin on his back burning and charring as Metal Sonic tried to roast Cream alive. He remembers wanting to help.

Espio remembers anger. Not to the extent that Shadow let anger override him during the fight. But Espio remembers feeling so angry at, not only Metal Sonic, but Vector as well. The crocodile had dragged himself and Charmy through untold hazards and against dangerous foes for a mysterious and no doubt suspicious benefactor because "they never turned down work that paid." And Espio remembers growling that mantra in his throat every time that he threw himself out of the way of a spike or an ice crystal or a jet of flame. And, to his credit he only remembers Metal Sonic's face being replaced with that of Vector once or twice.

Charmy remembers having tons of fun. Swooping between the spike barrages and dodging jets of fire. Charmy felt like a superhero from his favourite comic book. He remembers having to be saved by Espio or Rouge once or twice but always flying back into the fray with limitless energy, trying to dissolve Metal Sonic with the laser beams from his eyes.

Vector remembers the sensation of achievement. He willingly accepts that he did not play as large a part in the defeat of Metal Sonic as Sonic or Shadow did. But he does remember feeling proud knowing that the victory would not have been achieved so easily if it were not for the contribution of the Chaotix. Vector remembers every stylish move he made. Performing a forward flip over Metal Sonic's paw and clamping onto Metal Sonic's spines gouging deep marks in them. He remembers feeling, if only for a brief moment, like a true professional.

So it is true, even the same event can be recalled so many ways. In truth, nine different individuals distracted a metallic titan for long enough. Long enough to allow three other mobians to tap into the power of the Chaos Emeralds and defeat the creature entirely. But, in unreality, twelve different adventures were had during the fight. Twelve different enemies were beaten and the world saved twelve different times.

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Thanks for reading this. I hoped you enjoyed this. If you're wondering what I've been doing that has kept me from this story, go and check out the most recent video on my Youtube page (same username as here.)

Whether you enjoyed this chapter and my videos or not, please drop me a review and join us again next time for Chapter 12: Insanity.


	12. Insanity

Again, thanks to everyone for all the reviews and the views of my Youtube page. There's not much else for me to say here other than to direct you to Chapter 12: Insanity

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Disclaimer: Sonic and all official characters are copyrighted by SEGA and Sonic Team

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Chapter 12: Insanity

Sonic's so lucky. And he doesn't even realise it. That's part of the reason I hate him. It's by no means all of the reason. He's done so much to hurt me and degrade me, he even tried to kill me. Twice. I hate him. He has his speed and his strength. He's adored the world over by thousands of people. He even has friends. Friends that will stay by him and care for him. While I…I've had to watch the only two people I could ever call friends lose their minds and themselves. And all because of that accursed hedgehog. Maybe my hatred of him has begun to affect even my mind. Maybe I'm already in the early stages of the madness that took my friends. But I don't care, because if I do go insane, then maybe I'll be reunited with my friends, we can be a trio again, the Metallix trio. Robo Knux called us that, before he faded.

Robo Knux. A prototype racing robot. Built by the Doctor for the sole purpose of facing Sonic and his friends in that Chaos Emerald Grand Prix. Built for a single purpose, perfected in order to defeat the hedgehog once and for all. But the Doctor's designs were flawed. Robo Knux had been programmed with advanced artificial intelligence like most of his robots which would allow him to utilise unorthodox shortcuts and take original detours. But the Doctor also made a critical error, he made Robo Knux's competitive spirit too strong. And the changes that followed were disastrous.

It started innocently, but before too long, his competitive side began to grow. It wasn't long before he wanted to be, not just faster than Sonic and his friends but stronger, more agile, more intelligent than any of them. But it began to eat away at him, sending him into a spiral of competition. In his early days, when he had been newly created, he would talk to me, and joke loudly about the other robots that the Doctor had created, but as the end neared, he would say increasingly less and less.

I still remember the day he left.

Robo Knux had been shut away in his room on board the Final Egg for months. It had been over three weeks since I had seen him, over four months since he'd even looked at me and he had said nothing for over two years. He had been training, or so I assumed, still consumed by his desire.

I only just saw him leave, a silhouette that I had almost forgotten framed against the door. I dropped what I was doing and ran to him, hailing him as I did. I didn't expect him to reply, he never did. But as he reached the edges of the Mystic Ruin jungle. He stopped and looked at me. His eyes, despite only being optical diodes looked at me with a sanity I had not seen in them for years. He said one single word.

"Goodbye."

It was in that moment that I was truly glad that I had no heart, for if I had, it surely would have broken.

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Tails Doll.

I always wondered about him, After all, is it possible to be classed as insane, if you were never sane in the first place. We…I wouldn't say loved, but we liked him, Robo Knux and me.

Tails Doll was an experiment by the Doctor to try and utilise the powers of the Chaos Emeralds. All robots can utilise the more general, neutral power of the Master Emerald. I myself have used in on several occasions, but the Chaos Emeralds are often more useful. So, the Doctor tried to combine living organic tissue with cybernetic robot parts, and Tails Doll was the result.

And it broke him.

He never spoke. Not coherently. Occasionally he would babble words, like "Chaos", "Emerald," or "Pain" but he never really spoke. He screamed though. He constantly screamed. Long after his vocal chords had disintegrated from the screaming, you could always hear the rasping whisper of what had once been his voice still echoed in the dark chambers of the Doctor's base. Again, this was one of the few times I have been glad for my lack of emotions. I occasionally wondered what the Doctor had done to Tails Doll. None of the other robots would accept him, so Robo Knux and I took him in.

I never found out what happened to him. It was about a year before Robo Knux left when the Doctor came in, grabbed Tails Doll and walked out. We never saw him again. I hope the Doctor destroyed him. It would have been better than the torture his own existence was putting him through. Occasionally I miss the two of them, but then I realise that I have a job to do. To kill Sonic the Hedgehog. That I have no emotions, that I am just a robot, a soulless automaton that nevertheless made friends and had them torn from him.

My name is Metal Sonic, I hate both Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Robotnik. And now you know why.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter, especially those of you who wanted me to do Tails Doll. Please leave me a review and don't forget to come back for Chapter 13: Misfortune.


	13. Misfortune

Ok everyone. Again, many apologies for the huge lateness of this update. In order to make up for this, this chapter is going to be considerably longer than previous works. But first, a plot point has been made concerning contradictions in Metal Sonic's statements last chapter.

Metal Sonic's contradictions were intentional, and indicative of Metal Sonic starting to fall into madness himself and he is unable to distinguish between emotion and logic, the preliminary stages of his descent brought about by his undying hatred of Sonic and Eggman.

So anyway, I've prattled on long enough. So enjoy this latest Chapter: Misfortune. Or, as it should be changed for this chapter, Bad Luck.

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Disclaimer: Sonic and all related characters are copyrighted by SEGA and Sonic Team

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Chapter 13: Misfortune

A pair of sinister yellow eyes peered out from the foliage, looking out upon the unsuspecting masses, waiting for the perfect time to strike. With barely a rustling of the leaves, the figure brought his hand up to his head and spoke softly into the miniscule communicator sewn into the fabric of his gloves.

"This is Green Rhythm to Ninja, Green Rhythm to Ninja, do you read me?" A few feet behind Vector, Espio sighed and pulled out his own communicator.

"Vector, I'm right behind you." he sighed, cutting his transmission off halfway and shaking his head in despair as Vector kept listening to him speak, nodding his head to the words as he eventually lowered his wrist. The crocodile smiled as the transmission ended.

"Wow, the reception on these things is amazing. I can hear you perfectly." The chameleon ripped his communicator out of the lining of his glove and threw it into a nearby rubbish bin. Then he stalked around the crocodile, who was crouching behind a small potted fern and bent down to look into his superior's face and spoke very deliberately.

"That's. Because. I'm right behind you." He enunciated. The crocodile blinked blankly a few times and then stood up. The duo were currently standing in the foyer of the Grand Casinopolis, the largest gambling complex in the world. The Chaotix Detective Agency had recently been hired to retrieve a valuable artefact that had been stolen from one of Station Square's upper classmen. The stolen good was known as the Ark of the Cosmos and was apparently priceless. Thus, Vector had decided to put all of his efforts and manpower into retrieving the item quickly.

"Ah Espio. There you are. Where's Charmy?" Vector asked, looking around for the bee. Espio sighed again but, since he would be getting a large percentage of the pay check, he resolved to soldier on, despite his annoyances.

"Vector, he's way too young to get in the main casino. I left him in the kiddy arcade. He'll be fine there. He can't break anything. So, what's the plan?" Espio asked. For a moment Vector's eyes gained a confused look before apparently recovering.

"Right! Right, the plan. The plan is…" Then the crocodile trailed off as it became glaringly obvious that he had no plan at all. Espio smacked his head into his hands and stalked off towards the roulette tables. Once again he cursed the ineptitude of the crocodile who was still crouched behind the plant pot shouting into the communicator that Espio was no longer wearing. The only success he was having was to draw some strange looks towards the garbage can behind him that was now emanating Vector's tinny voice.

Two hours later, Espio was thoroughly lost. In the earlier stages of the afternoon, he'd tried to locate the stolen property or the criminal but, Vector had accepted the case immediately from their mystery client and rushed off to the casino with his comrades in tow. This wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact that Vector had neglected to ask their beneficiary for a description, either of the thief or indeed of the item that had been stolen and so Espio's earlier attempts at legitimate detective work had met with no success.

Also, the casino itself appeared to be a maze. The few narrow corridors that existed between the rows of slot machines and card tables were packed solidly with both mobians and humans, all of them eager to give away their money. And, although he would never admit it, Espio was beginning to wish that he hadn't thrown away his communicator because he'd also succeeded in losing Vector. Eventually deciding that he would have more luck finding his associate from a higher vantage point, Espio waited until no-one was obviously looking in his direction before blending in with the burgundy walls and beginning to climb.

Once he was hanging from the ceiling, Espio could see just how large and crowded the casino was. The main hallway must have been the length of three football fields, at least. And somewhere in that throng of bodies was the treasure, the thief, and Vector. Vector at least wasn't difficult to locate, as one of the larger mobians and certainly one of the more garishly coloured, the crocodile stood out from the crowd. He was currently leaning over a roulette table and, Espio was horrified to note, was pushing a large stack of chips into the middle of the board.

With a cry, half of shock, half of rage Espio ran back across the ceiling and down the wall until he could safely jump down without breaking his legs. No longer concentrating on his camouflage, the ninja slowly reverted to his natural deep purple as he squeezed between people on his way to the table. When he finally screeched to a halt by the table he leant across towards the stack of chips sitting on red, ignoring Vector's cries of protest and made to remove the pile when a white gloved hand grasped his wrist firmly.

"Sorry sir." the attendant sitting by the wheel said, gently but firmly pushing Espio's hand away, "the ball's in play, no bets can be withdrawn."

Espio swore, glared at Vector with a ferocity that surprised both of them, and stood back as the little silver ball circuited the roulette wheel several times before finally coming to rest in 33. Black. Remaining silent, Espio pushed himself away from the table and walked away. With a quick backwards glance, Vector hurried after him. When he caught up, the older detective opened his mouth to speak but Espio cut him off.

"How much?" he asked, staring straight ahead.

"What?" Vector asked confused.

"How much did we lose just then?" Espio asked again. Vector looked down at the floor and mumbled something under his breath.

"How much?" Espio asked again still not looking at Vector.

"A couple of thousand." the crocodile said quietly. "But I was on a great streak before that. If I go back, I'll win the money back no problem." This time Espio turned around. He spun on his toe and punched Vector in the jaw. The crocodile fell to the ground and lay there, stunned both from the blow and his friend's attack.

"You want to go back?" the chameleon said. His voice was deadpan and emotionless, his fury ran too deep for shouting. "You just lost most of our money, and you want to go BACK?" He flung himself at Vector, screaming incoherently, all of his rage at his friend's incompetence coming out in one emotional outburst. Vector flung up a hand to defend himself and the duo soon descended into a frantic fist fight. People began running and shouting for security as Vector slammed Espio up against a slot machine and held him still, trying to get him to calm down, but Espio kept lashing out, punching, kicking and even biting in his desire to simply hurt Vector.

Several people, who hadn't run to fetch security were now edging closer, trying to help Vector defend himself against attack from what seemed to be a feral animal. One man in a badly fitting tuxedo was already nursing a deep gash in his forearm from Espio's shuriken as two more bystanders bodily lifted Espio off of Vector and pinned his arms behind him. One of the women who had run to fetch security pushed their way back to the group, closely followed by two burly security guards, who hefted their way through the crowd that had gathered around the commotion.

"What's going on?" one of the guards yelled to the man with the injury as the other pulled out a compact walky-talky and began speaking into it.

"I don't know!" the man blurted. "That chameleon just seemed to go mad and attacked the crocodile. I want both of them arrested at once!" he shouted, holding out his arm slightly as if it were some sort of evidence. There were numerous shouts of assent as one of the security guards removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt and advanced on the still struggling Espio. As he walked towards the duo, the dishevelled man reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and withdrew a handkerchief in order to wipe his forehead. As he did so, a light grey ceramic ring with a large jewel set in the centre of it fell out of his pocket and landed, spinning gently on the ground. As one, Espio and Vector turned to stare at it instinctively knowing what it was.

"The Ark of the Cosmos…" Espio breathed. The man's eyes flicked up to meet his just for a fraction of a second, and Espio knew he had the thief. He didn't even need to shout, the man snatched the bracelet from the ground and took off into the crowd in one swift movement.

"Vector! That's him!" Espio nearly screamed. Vector immediately took off in pursuit of the man while Espio almost tore his arm off as he wrenched himself out of the security guard's grip and began sprinting in after the other two.

Espio quickly caught up to and overtook Vector. The other detective's large size made it far harder for him to push through the crowd whereas Espio could just weave between the gamblers. Even as he gained on the fleeing man, Espio knew that he would never catch him. The man's head start was too great and once he reached the city streets, he would never be found. Espio cursed his lack of exercise and tried to push his tired muscles even harder but it was no use. The thief was going to get away.

Or, he would have done. But as he ran through the foyer of the casino he neglected to notice the small figure making it's way out of the kiddy arcade and struggling under the weight of a stuffed teddy bear that was larger than it was.

"Espio! Espio." Charmy called from behind the bear. "Check out what I won! Aren't I awesome?" The bee's cheers of triumph were cut off abruptly as the fleeing man, practically blind with his desire to escape fell over Charmy and went crashing to the floor. Espio leapt onto the man and brought his arm up painfully behind his back as Vector, panting heavily finally caught up to them with the security guards in tow.

"That's the man you really want." Vector exclaimed, pointing to the man. Espio reached into the man's inner pocket as he was hauled upwards and withdrew the Ark of the Cosmos. He held it up to the light before slipping it over his wrist for safekeeping. He reached down and picked up Charmy, who was now crying heavily and moved over to the front doors.

"Hey! Where you going?" Vector called from where he was still standing over the thief. Espio didn't even turn and look as he led Charmy away.

"Charmy and I are going to go buy some ice cream," he called. "If you want to stay here and waste money, then be my guest." The doors swished open silently and the duo left into the sunlight street. Vector watched them leave in silence before turning to the security guards and indicating the prone figure.

"You guys think you can handle it from here?" he asked. The guard nodded, but with a confused air.

"Sure. But don't you want to stay for the police?" Vector shrugged and shook his head.

"Nah. It's ok. This collar's yours. I'm off to buy some ice cream." He grinned before running out the door to catch up to his two team mates.

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*Fanfare!* There you have it. This story is nowhere near dead yet. I've just had the most tremendous, massive writer's block on this chapter. But I swear, I will never give up on this. Hope to see you all next time for chapter 14: Smile.


	14. Smile

Hey once again. Glad to see people haven't abandoned me or this story. I'd like to thank everyone who's been with me so far and I hope you'll stay to see this through. And so, as way of thanks, I'll give you a new chapter.

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Disclaimer: Sonic and all related characters are copyrighted by SEGA and Sonic Team

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Chapter 14: Smile

The midday sun beat down on the wooden jetty that stretched out into the sea. At this time of the day, the jetty was deserted. All of the fishermen who intended to work that day had already left, and the holiday makers in the city preferred to spend their time at the sandier tourist beach located half an hour up the coast. Aside from the occasional seagull feeding on a discarded fish from yesterday's catch, the jetty should have been deserted except that today it wasn't.

Silver lay back on the jetty, eyes closed in blissful relaxation. The sunlight warmed his fur and skin in a much more pleasant fashion than the searing flames of Iblis that he had to endure every day in his own time. The light of the sun shone through his closed eyes, turning his vision red. But again, the experience could not have been more different to his old existence of living in the broken world of his old city, with the endless flames licking the ash-filled sky. But, listening to the waves lapping against the support struts of the jetty and feeling the pleasant warmth of the sun and the smooth wood at his back, Silver could almost lock out the entire memory of his war against Iblis, could almost forget the world, the future, that he was trying to save. Almost, but not quite.

With a satisfied groan and a stretch, Silver sat up and ran his fingers through his spines absent-mindedly as he stared out at the endless expanse of ocean reaching out onto the horizon. The sun shimmered on the crystal clear expanse of blue.

Blue. The same colour as that hedgehog from the vision. The Iblis Trigger. The memory of that creature, surrounded by flame as Iblis reared in the background free from it's imprisonment burned into Silver's brain far hotter and far more painfully than any of Iblis' fires. To think that a member of his own species, possibly even his own ancestor could be responsible for releasing the Flames of Disaster chilled the ivory hedgehog to his core. He shivered and looked down at his own hands. The hands that he knew would one day have to kill the Iblis Trigger.

"Still thinking about what Mephiles showed you?" a voice behind Silver asked quietly. Silver turned around slowly and saw Blaze slowly making her way down the concrete steps onto the jetty. She looked around nervously. Her innate fire power combined with her normal physiology enhanced her species otherwise irrational fear of water. This close to the ocean, she was unnerved but overcame it as she walked to the end of the jetty and sat down beside Silver.

"You know what has to be done." she said softly, laying a hand on Silver's glove for reassurance. Silver sighed and looked back out at the ocean. Blaze turned to follow his gaze.

"I was watching you before," she said without turning. "I don't think I've ever really seen you smile like that." She turned to look at Silver, but he wouldn't turn to look at her. Instead he just gave a half-hearted smirk and leant backwards away from the sea.

"I just never thought the past would be this beautiful." he admitted, his shoulders slumping. "I didn't want to believe that Iblis could have changed the world that much. I thought…maybe if Iblis hadn't done too much to destroy the world. That we wouldn't need to be here. That we wouldn't have to…" he trailed off and gazed down at his palms.

"We wouldn't have to kill the Iblis Trigger." Blaze finished the sentence for him, knowing how much Silver was suffering from Mephiles' vision. Silver nodded silently and absentmindedly began spinning a rock around in the air with his powers. The knowledge that, in order to save the future and give life back to the planet, the blue hedgehog would have to die.

Blaze was also thinking about the images that Mephiles had shown her. The only difference was that she could put a name to a face and she didn't want to tell Silver. The young hedgehog was already suffering with the knowledge that he was likely to become a murderer in the near future. He didn't need to know that his target was Sonic the Hedgehog, an adventurer, a _hero _who had fought alongside her in the past. A courageous character that she even considered a friend. Silver had enough burdens to bear without this additional one.

"Blaze," Silver said suddenly, turning to face her. "If it had been me, in the vision. If I was the Iblis Trigger, would you have killed me?" he asked, face impassive. Blaze shuddered at Silver's question and she was surprised to find tears gathering in her eyes and clouding her vision.

"How do you expect me to answer that?" she stammered, her throat already swelling with tears and grief. "If I say yes. I'm a terrible friend. If I say no, it means I'm too weak to do anything to save our time." She managed to choke out before starting to cry. Silver put his hands lightly on her shoulders and smiled warmly.

"No Blaze. Of course not. If you say no, then it means you have feelings. It means that you're a person. It means, that whatever it comes to. Whatever we end up having to do, we'll do it together. As a team."

Blaze blinked and sniffled. She looked up at Silver who was still smiling warmly at her. Those innocent eyes still unable to truly comprehend the gravity of what they were here to do pierced into her soul and rather than chilling her, they warmed her. She smiled back and pulled Silver into a hug.

"As a team." She repeated softly into Silver's shoulder. "Always." Suddenly, she leapt to her feet and dragged Silver up with her. "Come on then." she grinned, grabbing one of Silver's hands in both of hers and dragging him towards the shoreline. "You've still got to show me the rest of this new world remember?" she smiled. Silver smiled back at her warmly and nodded.

"O.k. Let me show you around."

* * *

Well, better later than never. My new years resolution is to update my stories on a more regular basis so you guys won't have to wait so long between chapters. But regardless, join us next time for the Chapter 15: Silence.


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